Sun Prairie Post Office
1715 Linnerud Drive |
In 1896, the U.S. Post Office Department began rural free delivery in Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Ioway, and West Virginia on an experimental basis. On November 16th, Sun Prairie became the first community in Wisconsin to initiate rural free delivery with four routes. Each carrier rode twenty to thirty miles daily delivering mail in an area of sixty square miles. They did it for a salary of twenty-five dollars a month. The first appointed carriers included Charles Woerpel, James Dunphy, Charles Phillips and William Evans. William Mosel was the Sun Prairie Postmaster at this time.
Village merchants initially opposed free delivery, fearing the loss of business if farmers did not come to town for to pickup and drop off their mail. After a month's trial, satisfied farmsers announced that they would carry on the service themselves if the Postal Service chose to discontinue it. Rural free delivery continued and became a permanent service.
House to house delivery in the village did not begin until 1950.
